For Sale - WW2 Gunto type 3, (South Florida) Masanori 正則

[SwordAmateurNagoya]

Hi folks, helping a good friend here who has inherited this sword.  Here's 14 photos of it and some close-ups of the kanji.

 

https://imgur.com/a/eCS2eRK

 

You guys will surely know more about this sword than we do.  People have told us "the mounts are Rinji seikishi late war mounts" and 昭和一九年五月 ( Shōwa ichi kyū-nen gogatsu ), so made in May 1944 by Masanori

 

The former owner, now deceased, was a wealthy person but not Japanese. It might have been given to him as a gift or purchased it, we're not really sure.

 

If anyone's interested, please give me a shout. Also super appreciative if you know any additional information about the sword. Everything I posted here is literally all I know, beyond general searches for Type 3's.  I'm curious about the very small kanji near the handle in particular.

 

Thanks in advance!

[ROKUJURO]

Why don't you try to sell it in the "For Sale and Trade" section? You will get more members interested! Please don't forget to tell a price, it is mandatory.

[MarcoUdin]

Agreed you should post this in the for sale section. Also does it have a star stamp under the collar, I believe this was an RJT smith?

[SwordAmateurNagoya]

I have no idea what it's worth, what's the price range for this kind of thing?  Not exactly a lot of Japanese sword appraisers in South Florida lol

 

I tried looking on ebay but the range is all over the place

[SwordAmateurNagoya]

15 minutes ago, MarcoUdin said:

Agreed you should post this in the for sale section. Also does it have a star stamp under the collar, I believe this was an RJT smith?

 

I'm not familiar with what it means.  I found this in trying to understand

 

https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/Japanese-militaria/rikugun-jumei-tosho-rjt-star-stamped-blades-documentation-789067/

 

I'd like to move this post to the sales section but I don't know what the sword is worth, ideas on ballpark price to offer it?

[ROKUJURO]

MR (please sign your posts at least with your first name),

if you want to sell something, you should have an idea of the price. If not, I am afraid you will have to study the market.
Japanese swords are a very specialized field, and even our militaria experts will have a hard time giving you a value by just looking at some photos. A lot of (seemingly tiny) factors are important and can influence the value by a wide margin. 

My advice is posting your sword with good detail photos in the military section and ask the experts for help.  

[francois2605]

4 hours ago, SwordAmateurNagoya said:

Not exactly a lot of Japanese sword appraisers in South Florida lol

 

@Ray Singer is in Florida, you may want to contact him

[DTM72]

2 hours ago, francois2605 said:

 

@Ray Singer is in Florida, you may want to contact him

I also agree that Ray Singer is the best to go to in S. Florida. He has alot of experience with WWII blades.

[Bruce Pennington]

Hi,

Like Jean said, please update your profile with a real first name.

 

The blade is stamped with the "Gifu" stamp, which I believe was used by the Seki Cutlery Manufacturers Asssociation after the Nagoya Arsenal inpectors absconded with their Seki stamp.  It signifies that the blade passed their inspection for quality.  Currently, the source material is conflicting as to whether it signifies a non-traditionally made blade, so have to go by the blade, itself, for that determination.

 

Non-traditionally made Rinji seishiki (type 3; type 100; type 44; etc), like you said are going for a variety of prices.  A reasonable range is $900-1,200 USD.  Start high and take offers!

[Brian]

 Non-traditionally made, value as Bruce mentioned.